Jasmine’s face lights up.“He’s got Nutter Butters back there too.Should I get those?”
“You have to ask?”I ruffle her hair.
“Okay, Dad!I’ll bring backthreecream sodas so we can all have one.Be right back, Emma!”
I watch her run out the door.I listen for the sound of her feet on the stairs and the opening and closing of the front door.
I turn to Emma, whose gaze has moved from the carpet to me.She knows I’m upset.Her face has reddened, and her chest is splotchy.She rubs at it absentmindedly.
“You agreed to the rules.”I’m trying to keep my voice calm.“I gave you that list.You reviewed it and agreed to the terms.I was very clear that you’re not to be alone with Jasmine until your background check is completed.”
“She… she just showed up while I was cleaning, Mr.MacLaine.I though you knew that she’d left Phyllis’s house.I thought maybe you brought her here and were downstairs in your office or something.”
Her face is growing redder and her chest splotchier by the second.
“That’s not an excuse.And don’t call memisteranything.My name is Finn.”
Itisan excuse, though, isn’t it?She’s right—it’s a perfectly reasonable assumption to make.And it’s a perfectly polite thing to do to call your bossmisteruntil he tells you otherwise.
I’m behaving like a complete dick, but this is about the safety of my daughter.So I find myself doubling down.
“Jasmine is my only child.She’s the most important thing in my life.”
Emma nods, her huge, dark eyes still on me.
“You’ve just waltzed in here and started breaking all the rules.I can’t even find my stuff!The kitchen looks like it’s been sanitized for my protection!And here you are, boxing up my daughter’s toys?Are you kidding me?The toys I bought for her and that have sentimental value to us both?That takes a lot of nerve.”
“I…” She starts, but emotion makes her choke back whatever words she was planning to say.
I’m an ass.But Emma just broke the rules regarding my little girl.
Emma has fucked up my perfectly ordered world.
“Sorry.”She chokes out her apology.
“Sorry’s not good enough.I can’t have someone working in my home, sleeping down the hall from my daughter, who does not respect our privacy.”
She nods.A single tear rolls down her cheek, and I want to punch myself in the face.In this moment, I want to take it all back, tell her I’m an idiot, because only an idiot would get mad about cleared counters and a tidy and organized little girl’s room.
But I don’t say any of that.I stand with my fists clenched at my sides, my heart pounding, in a general state of rage.Emma rises from the floor and stands before me in sweatpants and a men’s undershirt.There isn’t a lick of makeup on her face, and her hair has dried naturally.
Even with the red splotches—which I’m responsible for—she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
“You’ll have to leave,” I whisper, barely aware that I’ve spoken.
Emma gasps and runs from Jasmine’s room.
CHAPTER 14
Emma
I pack my duffel bag in less than two minutes.It nearly kills me to go into the perfect bathroom to grab my off-brand toiletries.I don’t want to say goodbye to the fresh towels, the countertop, or least of all the lighted mirror.I didn’t even get to soak in the tub!
But I still only have fifteen dollars to my name.I can’t afford to replace even this stupid generic tube of toothpaste or my cheap-o conditioner.
“Goodbye sauna function… I will miss you most of all.”
I turn off the bathroom light and double-check that I’ve removed everything from the bedroom.
